ELYRIA — The Texas Roadhouse restaurant is scheduled to reopen at 4 p.m. Friday after it was closed by a  fire in its kitchen on Sunday.

According to a release from the company, repairs are complete at the restaurant at 245 Market Drive, which had to be evacuated about 8:10 p.m. Sunday.

No one was hurt in the blaze, and all patrons were evacuated safely.

Fire investigators said they believe a faulty ventilation component caused the fire.

CLEVELAND — According to manager Manny Acta, there is only one spot available in the Indians’ rotation next year.

Acta said right-handers Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Tomlin, and even Fausto Carmona have starting spots locked up for 2012, which means right-handers, Carlos Carrasco, Jeanmar Gomez and Mitch Talbot, and left-hander David Huff, will vie for the final job.

“That’s pretty much it,” Acta said. “The other guys are in the mix and they’ll fight for that last spot.”

Though Acta named Carmona, there is no guarantee the right-hander, who finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting in 2007, will be back. The Indians own club options in 2012 ($7 million), 2013 ($9 million) and 2014 ($12 million) on Carmona, who has been inconsistent this season, going 7-15 with a 5.23 ERA in 31 starts.

Acta also left open the option of the Indians acquiring a starting pitcher in the offseason.

“Why not? Maybe,” he said. “You can never have enough pitching.”

Entering Thursday, Cleveland’s starting pitchers ranked 10th in the AL with a 4.43 ERA.

Back in business

All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera returned to the lineup after missing a game with a mid-back strain. Entering Thursday, Cabrera had played in 146 games — the second-most behind Carlos Santana’s 148.

Off and on

Acta said he will continue to platoon designated hitters Jim Thome and Travis Hafner for the remainder of the season, meaning each would play every other day.

Hafner was in the lineup Thursday.

“Hafner could hit three homers (Thursday) and Thome is still playing (Friday),” Acta said.

Next up

The Indians complete the final homestand of the season with a four-game series against Minnesota that begins tonight at 7:05.

Justin Masterson (12-10, 3.15 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing RHP Carl Pavano (8-13, 4.40).

David Huff (2-6, 4.20) starts for the Indians in the first game of a day-night doubleheader Saturday (1:05 p.m.), while the Twins counter with LHP Scott Diamond (1-5, 4.81). Mitch Talbot (2-6, 6.33) starts the nightcap (7:05) for Cleveland, but Minnesota has yet to name a pitcher.

Carmona (7-15, 5.23) goes in the series finale Sunday (1:05 p.m.) against RHP Liam Hendriks (0-2, 6.23).

Roundin’ third

Thome and Chicago’s Omar Vizquel, teammates and fan favorites in Cleveland from 1994-2002, exchanged the lineup cards prior to the game. The Indians will hold a special ceremony for Thome prior to tonight’s game in commemoration of his 600th homer. He is Cleveland’s all-time home run leader with 336. … The Baldwin-Wallace College marching band performed the national anthem. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

CLEVELAND — Ubaldo Jimenez’s final home start of the season looked like most of his other games with the Indians.

The right-handed flamethrower was overpowering at times, but couldn’t avoid one bad inning.

Alejandro De Aza ripped a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the seventh Wednesday, propelling the Chicago White Sox to an 8-4 win over the Tribe.

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Jimenez entered the inning with a 2-1 lead, but took the loss after allowing an RBI double to Brent Morel and De Aza’s drive to the base of the wall in left-center field. He exited at the end of the seventh with Cleveland trailing 4-2.

“I just lost the control, I lost my radar,” said Jimenez, who fell to 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA in 10 appearances with the Indians. “Tonight was probably the best game I’ve had here until then because I was throwing good sliders and my fastball was working.

“I didn’t get tired in the seventh. I felt good. I just tried to go up and in on De Aza, but it didn’t happen and he hit it.”

Jimenez (10-12, 4.52 ERA) allowed four earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out seven in a 113-pitch outing. He was in position to get the win after Tribe designated hitter Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, erasing Chicago’s 1-0 lead.

Hafner’s 360-foot shot to right also convinced Cleveland manager Manny Acta to keep Jimenez in the game, which he attributed to his status as the team’s ace. He was acquired from Colorado on July 31 in exchange for pitching prospects Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, and two other minor leaguers.

“I thought Ubaldo threw the ball well, and he was cruising pretty much until the seventh there,” Acta said. “I tried to stretch him a bit like a top of the rotation guy, but it just backfired on us.

“You want to give him a chance to win the ballgame, but he missed his location a couple of times. I feel bad myself because I wanted to push him, and he couldn’t do it.”

After Chicago reclaimed the lead off Jimenez, it blew the game wide open in the eighth against Indians reliever Chad Durbin. He surrendered three long home runs — totaling 1,182 feet to Alexei Ramirez, Alex Rios and Morel — and four runs to extend the White Sox’s lead to 8-2.

The Tribe scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kipnis and a single by Carlos Santana, but it was far too little, too late on this quiet fall night.

Chicago left-hander Mark Buehrle (12-9, 3.72) earned the victory with six innings of two-run, four-hit ball. The veteran had lost his first three September starts, but found the magic elixir at Progressive Field in improving to 15-17 all-time against Cleveland.

Jesse Crain, Jason Frasor, Will Ohman and Sergio Santos tossed the final three innings for the White Sox, scattering four hits and a pair of runs, while Frank Herrmann mopped up for the Indians.

“Buehrle just changed speeds and threw strikes tonight,” Hafner said. “You know what you’re going to get when you face him because that’s what he always does.”

Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com.

ELYRIA — Lorain County’s 4-H program could feel the budget ax if the 0.25 percent sales tax increase proposed by the county commissioners fails to win the support of voters in November.

Jessica Robenolt, 19, of Oberlin, poses with her Arabian horse Snickers on Wednesday. (CT photo by Chuck Humel.)

The commissioners agreed Wednesday to a list of about $2.1 million worth of cuts that would be imposed on county government if the sales tax hike is shot down. The list included completely eliminating the $86,400 the commissioners have given to The Ohio State University Extension Office, which runs the county’s 4-H program, for the past two years.

Without that money, extension Director Linnette Goard warned, the office won’t be able to get state or federal matching funds and would have to close. With it would also close the 4-H program, which has more than 2,000 members involved in 86 clubs in the county. The extension office has a budget this year of nearly $287,000.

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“If the OSU Extension closes, 4-H is gone, and all extension services are gone,” Goard said.

Even if the Lorain County extension office were to merge with another county, most likely Medina, Goard said the commissioners would still need to contribute money. She also said that the extension has taken a proactive approach to possible budget problems and is laying off three employees.

The possibility of losing 4-H, which is heavily involved in the Lorain County Fair, doesn’t sit well with 16-year-old Kayla Mackey of Kipton, who is a member of two 4-H clubs that she credits with teaching her skills ranging from leadership to how to care for her rabbits and goats.

She said 4-H programs are in trouble all over the state because of budget cuts.

“I can’t see my life without 4-H,” Kayla said. “I understand that the county is going down, but so is everything else. We are one of the few counties that still has 4-H, and a lot of us are barely holding on.”

Commissioner Ted Kalo, who put forth the list of possible cuts, said he’s a longtime supporter of 4-H and isn’t happy about the cuts he had to propose, but the extension office isn’t a service that county government is mandated to provide.
“We don’t have the revenue,” he said. “We don’t have a whole lot of discretionary funding.”

Brenda Lea Teeters, one of the 376 adult 4-H volunteers in the county, said losing the extension office and 4-H would be great loss for the county, but she also hopes the possibility spurs voters to vote for the sales tax.

“I don’t think it’s a scare tactic, we’ve all felt the pinch,” Teeters said.

Commissioner Tom Williams, who has pushed for deeper cuts than Kalo proposed, said he wasn’t particularly pleased with the prospect of eliminating the county’s OSU extension office. He said he’d rather see the funding cut elsewhere in county government, possibly from county Auditor Mark Stewart’s budget, which would already be cut by $200,000 under Kalo’s proposal if the sales tax fails.

“We may have to make a cut, but I don’t want to lose federal funding, and I don’t want to lose 4-H,” Williams said. “But times are tough.”

Commissioner Lori Kokoski said she was a member of 4-H when she was growing up and she hopes that the program can survive. There’s always the possibility that the proposed cut to the extension office won’t need to be as severe, she said.
“The budget is a living document, so it’s something that can be changed,” she said.

Kalo’s proposal listed more than $2.1 million in cuts, although it also noted that another $372,600 worth of cuts will likely still need to be made if the tax increase fails.

If the full $2.5 million worth of cuts Kalo’s proposal said were necessary — which also included slashing the county’s contribution to Lorain County Transit from $100,000 to $50,000 — were imposed in the event the tax increase fails, they would allow the county to survive through 2012, but it would also mean there would be no carryover into 2013.

Williams said he believes additional cuts will be necessary or the county will be looking at an additional $12 million in budget reductions when 2013 arrives. Cuts will still be necessary if the sales tax passes, he said.

“I’m on board saying that the $2.5 million should balance our budget for 2012, but it doesn’t solve our problems,” he said.

The proposal would also see the county jail, which has an annual budget of nearly $12 million lose $350,000 if the tax hike fails. The jail is funded through a dedicated sales tax that generates around $7.5 million annually and the commissioners contribute the extra money.

Sheriff Phil Stammitti, who has avoided reductions to his law enforcement budget in the most recent cuts, said he doesn’t like the prospect of running the jail with less money. He said he’s already short staffed and doing everything he can to keep costs under control.

The commissioners need to find a better way to deal with the budget gap than just cutting, Stammitti said.

“It’s their job to come up with the funds so elected officials can run their offices,” Stammitti said.

County Prosecutor Dennis Will, who will see his budget cut $200,000 under Kalo’s proposal, said losing that kind of money will mean his office will take even longer to get work done. Some things might not get done at all, he said.

“There’s nowhere to absorb it,” Will said. “It’s going to be a reduction in personnel.”

The biggest potential cut under the proposal would be to the county’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judges, who would lose the $648,000 they use to fund the Pathways and Turning Point facilities.

Those facilities are among the few places the commissioners are able to cut in the court system because of orders from the county’s judges requiring the commissioners to fund their operations at a certain level.

Juvenile Court Administrator Doug Messer said both Pathways and Turning Point provide valuable and necessary services for the county’s children.

“We are very hopeful the citizens of Lorain County will see their way to pass the sales tax to avoid that catastrophic loss,” he said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.